How I Made It: Tim Westwell, founder of Pukka Herbs

A bored salesman found inner peace with herbal remedies that are now stocked by Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose

Tim Westwell and Sebastian Pole have built a company with sales of £7m (Alistair Hood)

WHILE his friends travelled the world in search of inner peace, Tim Westwell sat on his sofa in Bristol waiting for inspiration. At the age of 40, he had taken six months off from his job in sales to work out what he wanted to do.

He placed a small ad in a local magazine offering his sales and marketing expertise to anyone who wanted help turning an idea into a business.

Sebastian Pole, a herbalist from Bath, responded. Together they founded Pukka Herbs, a supplier of herbal teas and food supplements that are now stocked by Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

They joined forces in 2001, started trading in 2002, and sales reached £48,000 in that first year.

Since then the pair have built Pukka Herbs, based in south Bristol, into a business with 48 staff and sales of £7m — 45% of them abroad.

Westwell was born and grew up in Blackburn, one of two sons. His father was an accountant and his mother a teacher. He wanted to be a bus driver — or an architect.

But his A-level grades meant architecture was out of the question, and he went to study construction management at Liverpool polytechnic.

“I saw it as an escape from home and a way of becoming independent,” said Westwell. However, the degree got him thinking about business.

“We were learning about the psychology behind buying and I decided I would move into sales and marketing.”

When he graduated in 1983, Westwell listened to his parents. “We were in a deep recession and everyone up north was getting on their bike and heading south to find work. I did the same,” he said.

That same year, Westwell joined Martin Dawes, an electricals retailer in Bristol, selling car phones. His stint in sales lasted two years. He then took a job as a regional sales manager with Memorex, a computer hardware company, in Staines, west London.

Every two years Westwell would move to another technology firm, gaining experience and climbing the ladder.

In 1998 he moved to Paris, where he spent two years working as a European development manager for Bull, the computer company, but two years later, he was bored — again.

“The bigger the companies were, the more of a rat race it was,” said Westwell. “In the smaller firms, things were more transparent and enjoyable.

“I had got to a stage where I wanted more out of life than working to help someone else’s company flourish.”

He took six months off, but never returned. He sat on his couch, surrounded by self-help and inspirational books, until the call came from Pole.

The herbal practitioner had been travelling in India and learning about the culture of herbs, but he was in need of business advice. The two men met and decided they were destined to start a business.

“He wanted to create a herbal tea brand, and I was able to come on board and do all the branding and marketing stuff,” said Westwell. “We didn’t know each other at all but sometimes when you feel it’s right, you have to go for it.”

The two devised a business plan based on their desire to “spread the word of herbal health”.

With £5,000 of their savings they began creating artwork for the brand, but they soon realised they needed more funding to pay for the first shipment of herbs from India. When HSBC offered a £10,000 loan, Pukka Herbs was ready to go.

Westwell began making phone calls “to every herbal shop near by, and to the bigger retailers”.

It took nine months to get through to Tesco, but once he had spoken to the right person the company’s teas were on the shelves within six months. By spring 2002, Pukka Herbs was stocked in Sainsbury’s and Waitrose as well.

“It’s about picking up the phone and talking to people. It’s not as hard as you think it is,” said Westwell.

As Britain became more knowledgeable about the benefits of herbal remedies and products, Westwell’s revenues rose. The growing sales and interest in the tea brand soon got the two business partners thinking about trading overseas and launching new products.

Today, the Pukka Herbs brand can be found in America and Japan, and in Scandinavia, which is its biggest overseas market.

More recently, Pukka Herbs has launched a brand of organic skincare products that includes Firming Face Oil, a product made entirely from organic herbs that claims to do exactly what it says on the packaging. The skincare range incorporates the herbs also used in some of the Pukka teas — mint, ginger, camomile and fennel.

Westwell, 51, lives in Blagdon, near Bristol, with his girlfriend Hila and their two-year-old daughter.

His advice to those who want to be their own boss is inspired by his decision to go into business with a complete stranger.

“You know when it feels like you’re ready to make that leap. Go with your gut, but do it with a sound mind.”